Monday, July 6, 2009

Are you sure?

I am tiring quickly of trying to keep up with the political scene here, it is just too hard to keep track of who said what, why, where, and for what reason. Without even trying to figure out the motive behind some of the events, let me just share what has my head spinning just this morning:

The fully non-veiled threats of Mr. Chavez towards the entire populace of Honduras are worded in a clever manner, but not very nice. I guess threats usually fall in that category. Mr. Ortega's threats are not as entertaining, but just as concerning...if not so much for Honduras (I am not personally feeling threatened or anything like that) than for any other nation that happens to get in their view of what is right and wrong. It is hard to argue success though...they seem to be gathering support for their organization of socialist states (nine countries so far) and they have almost full international support behind them and Mel in this particular problem.

The government here says no way is Mel coming back to power, but wants to negotiate with the OAS. Some are saying the US needs to negotiate....there seems to be plenty of people already offering their services (presidents/people from just about every LA country...maybe even Grenada, who knows.) Other than negotiating Mel's return to power....what else is up for grabs has not been defined, just that it should be in "good faith."

Then today I see posted on El Heraldo's main page that the director of the human rights commission here in Honduras (Ramón Custodio) says that it was not the military that fired the shots that killed the young man at the airport yesterday. I believe I saw something else posted earlier alleging that the shots came from the protestors themselves. However another paper report said he was killed by ammunition from a M-16. So, military or crowd M-16? Hmmmm

More marches are planned...again, all that I have seen planned are for here in Teguc, and now there are several stories on the newspaper sites that say parents are complaining that the schools around town (conveniently closed because the teachers are protesting...wanting Mel back) are being used at night to house Mel sympathizers/foreigners, and another muckity muck (Héctor Iván Mejía) says that they have identified (how not shared yet) among the protestors supporting Mel citizens from Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. I presume they were not foolish enough to send them wearing shirts that said "Fidel or Daniel or Hugo sent me to protest in Honduras and all I got was this lousy T-shirt" so who knows how they were able to ascertain this.

And yet again despite what the TV personalities would tell you, life continues in normalcy around these parts today. If it is normal where we live (close to the airport)...then imagine the rest of the country that is not center stage for all this. Without supporting one side or the other: there is no military rule here, the people are not cowering in fear, the curfews at night really affect very few (most people know better than to venture out much at night here anyway...and I for one am surprised to find myself thinking having curfews all the time would not bother me at all) and such curfews are not a "military lock down." If you...or a TV network...supports one side or the other, I can understand that...but to blow things so far above reality to make for a more shocking newsletter or entertaining show is just not right. Making things up, or just sensationalism is not being responsible...whether you owe that responsibility to your Savior or lacking Him, the very cause you claim to support.

So I can see more close up, I am going to go run, this time specifically trying to pass by close to the airport to see what all happened/was damaged/etc. something I would not do if I was scared or frightened. I doubt I find anything too out of the ordinary this afternoon.